Filamentary structures in the magnetotail lobes

Journal Article · Sun Mar 01 04:00:00 EST 1987 · Journal of Geophysical Research; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1029/JA092iA03p02349· OSTI ID:5510757

Huang, C Y; Frank, L A ^[1]; Peterson, W K; Lennartsson, W ^[2]; Williams, D J; Mitchell, D G ^[3]; Elphic, R C; Russell, C T ^[4]

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1. Univ. of Iowa, Iowa City (United States)
2. Lockheed Palo Alto Research Lab., CA (United States)
3. Johns Hopkins Univ., Laurel, MD (United States)
4. Univ. of California, Los Angeles (United States)

Filamentary structures consisting of energetic plasma have been observed in the magnetotail lobes. Using plasma, energetic particle, composition, and magnetic field data from the ISEE 1 and 2 spacecraft, the authors have established that these structures may be related to polar cap auroras. The filaments consist of energetic (several keV) plasma with a quasi-isotropic or field-aligned velocity distribution similar to that in the plasma sheet boundary layer. Composition analysis reveals that the origin of the plasma is the plasma sheet or plasma sheet boundary layer. The gradients in the energetic particle fluxes show that the structures are approximately aligned in the XZ plane, so that the possibility of simple plasma sheet flapping can be ruled out. Field-aligned currents are associated with the filamentary structures. The current densities when mapped along the magnetic field lines are comparable with low-altitude measurements over the polar cap. While the occurrence of the filaments is not correlated with interplanetary conditions, the convection pattern within the filaments appears to be related to the interplanetary magnetic field direction. When the IMF B{sub z} is positive, the E {times} B convection is in the sense of a duck-to-dawn electric field. The observations of field-aligned currents and plasma convection are consistent with those made by polar-orbiting satellites.

• OSTI ID: 5510757
• Journal Information: Journal of Geophysical Research; (United States), Journal Name: Journal of Geophysical Research; (United States) Vol. 92:A3; ISSN 0148-0227; ISSN JGREA
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

661320* -- Auroral
Ionospheric
& Magnetospheric Phenomena-- (1992-)
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
AURORAE
BOUNDARY LAYERS
CHEMICAL COMPOSITION
CONVECTION
CORRELATIONS
CURRENT DENSITY
CURRENTS
EARTH ATMOSPHERE
EARTH MAGNETOSPHERE
ELECTRIC CURRENTS
ENERGY TRANSFER
EXPLORER SATELLITES
HEAT TRANSFER
INTERPLANETARY MAGNETIC FIELDS
LAYERS
MAGNETIC FIELD CONFIGURATIONS
MAGNETIC FIELDS
MAGNETOTAIL
MASS TRANSFER
MORPHOLOGY
ORIGIN
PLASMA
PLASMA DENSITY
PLASMA DRIFT
PLASMA SHEET
POLAR-CAP AURORAE
SATELLITES